I think we need to understand whether you even NEED to file a 2019 tax return to report 2019 income. If you did not have nay taxable income to report for 2019 then mailing in a 2019 return will be pointless in regard to getting the 2020 2nd stimulus. A 2019 return can only be filed by mail and it is taking the IRS months to process mailed returns. A 2019 mailed return would not yield a 2nd stimulus for you.
Do you have taxable income to enter on a 2020 return? If so, you still cannot file a 2020 return "asap" because the IRS is not accepting 2020 returns until the end of January. But....the 2020 return is the one with the recovery rebate credit. That is where you can get the 2nd stimulus if you do not receive it automatically within the next couple of weeks.
A 2020 return can be e-filed, so it will be processed sooner than a mailed 2019 return. The stimulus money is an advance on a credit that is available on your 2020 return. They just used 2018 and 2019 returns to get the money out in a hurry during the pandemic.
Right now the IRS and the software programmers are burning the midnight oil to revise the 2020 Form 1040 and all the tax prep software for the 2nd stimulus. So you need to wait until that process is complete and the software is ready--file a 2020 return later---like sometime in February. Wait for it all to be ready. By then you will know if a 2nd stimulus is somehow going to appear in your mailbox----but it probably will not.
My "standard" reply to the recovery rebate credit:
The stimulus check is an advance on a credit you can receive on your 2020 tax return. If something went wrong or you did not get the stimulus check this year, you can get it when you file your 2020 return in early 2021—if you are eligible.It will end up on line 30 of your 2020 Form 1040.
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/economic-impact-payment-information-center-topic-j-reconciling-on-your-...
https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/coronavirus-tax-relief-and-economic-impact-payments-for-individuals-...
https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-topics/help/how-will-the-stimulus-package-impact-me/00/1393859
We know that the IRS is already revising the 2020 Form 1040 to include the 2nd stimulus, but that change will entail a lot of re-programing at the IRS and for the tax software programs. It may be at least a month — or longer— before the forms are changed. Do NOT be in a hurry to file your 2020 tax return until more is known. Give some extra time to the IRS and the software programmers so that the software can handle the new 2nd stimulus, so that you can get it all by filing ONE time. It is never a good idea to file too early; filing your 2020 return too soon may result in a lot of extra confusion that can be avoided if you wait and file a little later.
**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**
